underage drinking

1. UNDERAGE DRINKING
RESEARCH INTO OUR TOPIC:
Jade Broadbent

2. It is against the law:
•To sell alcohol to someone under 18 anywhere.
•For an adult to buy or attempt to buy alcohol on behalf of someone under 18.
(Retailers can reserve the right to refuse the sale of alcohol to an adult if
they’re accompanied by a child and think the alcohol is being bought for the
child.)
•For someone under 18 to buy alcohol, attempt to buy alcohol or to be sold
alcohol.
•For someone under 18 to drink alcohol in licensed premises, except where the
child is 16 or 17 years old and accompanied by an adult. In this case it is legal
for them to drink, but not buy, beer, wine and cider with a table meal.
•For an adult to buy alcohol for someone under 18 for consumption on licensed
premises, except as above.
•To give children alcohol if they are under five.
It is not illegal:
•For someone over 18 to buy a child over 16 beer, wine or cider if they are
eating a table meal together in licensed premises.
•For a child aged five to 16 to drink alcohol at home or on other private
premises

3. Consequences of breaking the law
If the police suspect someone under 18 has alcohol in a public
place, they have the power to confiscate it. If young people
get caught with alcohol three times they could face a social
contract, a fine or arrest. Getting a criminal record could
affect future job prospects and make it more difficult to
travel to countries like the USA.
The police can also confiscate alcohol from someone, no
matter what their age, if they believe it has been, or will be
drunk by someone under 18 in a public place.

4. How much is too much for under 18s to drink?
The UK chief medical officers recommend that an alcohol-free childhood
is the healthiest and best option.

5. Teenage drinking statistics
The Health and Social Care Information Centre’s 2014 report documents
the drinking habits of teenagers. Of the teenagers surveyed they found:
•8% had drunk alcohol in the last week
•22% of those who had drunk alcohol in the past week had drunk 15 units
or more in that week
•Girls were more likely to report having been drunk than boys (10%,
compared with 7%)
However not all teenagers drink, the number of 11-15 year olds who had
tried alcohol (38%) was the lowest since the surveys began.
Despite this encouraging trend what’s concerning is that there were still
13,725 under-18s admitted to hospital with alcohol related problems
between 2011/12 and 2013/14

6. Why do teenagers drink?
It’s easy for adults to dismiss teen drinking as a straightforward act of youthful rebellion but the reasons teenagers start drinking can
be complicated and varied.
Peer pressure can be a major factor in contributing to drinking for the first time as teenagers feel the pressure to keep up with their
friends to fit in.
The feeling that every other teenager is drinking can be made worse by popular culture, as TV and films often show teenagers with
alcohol. A recent study found that adolescents with the highest exposure to alcohol use in films were more likely to have tried alcohol
compared with those least exposed and more likely to binge drink.
Teenagers may also drink to temporarily distract themselves from the pressures or worries of life. Puberty is a tough time and
teenagers may wrongly think drinking is a way to cope.
Drinking affecting teenager's health
Teenagers can think they’re invincible but drinking when too young can damage health and wellbeing of young
people. Most noticeable are the short term effects, such as bad breath, bad skin and weight gain.
However, more damaging is the potential effect of drinking on the young brain. Teenage years are important time for
brain development.
The 2009 Chief Medical Officer Reported concerns that heavy drinking at under twenty years old was associated with
abnormalities in brain areas dealing with motivation, reasoning and interpersonal interactions. Subsequent research
has shown that alcohol is indeed causing such changes in some young people. Alcohol can also lower inhibitions which
can make it more likely for teenagers to make risky like getting into fights or having unprotected sex.